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Marxist against libertarian getting elected

Economists warn electing far-right Milei would spell ‘devastation’ for Argentina
More than 100 economists including Thomas Piketty and Jayati Ghosh publish open letter ahead of country’s 19 November election

This is a surprise, isn’t it?

They’d rather go with the socialist who hsa ceased income tax for the election period and is paying for everything by printing more money in a 150% inflation environment.

So we can be sure they’re doing economics, Ho Yus, not politics, right?

The letter said Milei’s proposals – while presented as “a radical departure from traditional economic thinking” – were actually “rooted in laissez-faire economics”

Quite right. If anyone were allowed to prove that laissez fire works then that would be the end for socialism, no?

Milei has also attacked Piketty in the past, calling him a “turd” and “a criminal disguised as an intellectual”.

Warming to him, warming I am…..

26 thoughts on “Marxist against libertarian getting elected”

  1. I’ve heard of Thomas Piketty, though not read anything of his. Never heard of Jayati Ghosh.
    I bet 99% of Argentinians haven’t heard of either of them, so their influence on the election may be limited.

  2. Interesting. My memory of Piketty from the media left me with a vague impression of approval.

    I suppose I should have realised he’d be pretty bad.

  3. I read Piketty’s Spirit Level 13 years ago, and all the way through I was thinking “but that can’t happen, but that’s illegal, but that breaks the laws of physics, but maths doesn’t work that way, well poking yourself in the eye *does* hurt, etc…”

  4. Dennis, Who Has A Degree In Economics

    Spirit Level is Pickett. Piketty is the French economist who did that “Capital” book.

    They’re about the same when it comes to intellectual rigor, though.

  5. Picketty’s arguments have always seemed to me to be close relatives to the Victorian arguments that by now all the world’s capital cities would be 6+ feet deep in horse manure. They all assume things keep going on the same even when it’s obvious the maths behind the argument would fall apart long before reaching the conclusion.

  6. Tim Worstall said:
    “Spirit Level is Pickett. Piketty is the French economist who did that “Capital” book.”

    Oh, I’d always thought they were the same bloke. Thank you.

    But then for ages I’d thought Liz Truss wrote that book about panda grammar.

  7. What I liked about the Spirit Level was its logic.

    Japan has greater wealth equality than the West. Japanese people live longer. If we had greater wealth equality in the west, we’d live longer.

    I applied that to other things.

    The Japanese are more xenophobic and misogynistic than the West. The Japanese live longer………..

  8. Japanese

    Isn’t it partly down to their food?

    Variety (the extensive number of different food items every day), fish (om-3), fermented (natto – K2 Mk7), and lots more beside?

  9. Tim Worstall
    November 9, 2023 at 12:16 pm
    Jayati? Guardian columnist. Teaches at Amhurst – a univesity somewhat to the left of Pol Pot College

    Its amazing how many ‘economists’ end up with jobs as columnists instead of working as economists.

  10. Its amazing how many ‘economists’ end up with jobs as columnists instead of working being employed as economists.
    Lack of demand. And it’s hardly a field for self employed one man start ups is it? Who wants the product?

  11. Dennis, Pointing Out The Obvious

    Lack of demand. And it’s hardly a field for self employed one man start ups is it? Who wants the product?

    On the contrary, I think there is enormous demand for useful economic analysis in the business community. The simple fact is that present day economists are incapable of delivering it.

  12. @RichardT – “But then for ages I’d thought Liz Truss wrote that book about panda grammar.”

    “Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation”? That was by Lynne Truss. If Liz Truss had written it, it would have just been titled “Leaves” and been so short it would have contained only the word “lettuce”.

  13. @Dennis, Pointing Out The Obvious

    It was explained to me that the very best economists work for enormously wealthy private families.
    The next best work for businesses.
    The third best for Government.
    And the remainder work as journalists.

  14. Q. What’s the difference between an astrologer & an economist?
    A. Astrologers are occasionally right.

  15. Dennis, The Existential Threat To Civilization, Humanity And Pronoun Abuse

    It was explained to me that the very best economists work for enormously wealthy private families.
    The next best work for businesses.
    The third best for Government.
    And the remainder work as journalists.

    Where do the bozos in academia fit in there?
    Come to think of it, it doesn’t really matter, does it?

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